After the shuttlecraft story, the night seems to whittle gently away. We both have some work to do, and I'm tired from talking. We sleep early.

I turn over in the middle of the night and find her gone. Without looking at the clock, I know that it's 03:00 hours and that Voyager's captain is touring her ship. At least that's what
she calls it. I call it insomnia. I pull on some sweat clothes and set
out to find her.

It doesn't take me long. I'm pretty certain of where she'll end up.
And sure enough we reach the mess hall at almost the same instant. I
know that when I'm looking for Kathryn I just have to head towards the
most convenient caffeine source. She'll turn up there, inevitably.

Neither of us says a word as we enter Neelix's domain. He too knows his
captain. I can see the outline of a coffee thermos sitting on the
counter. He leaves it for her every night.

But tonight I notice another small form, illuminated by the gentle glow
of a personal lamp at the far end of the room.

Kathryn glances at me; a slightly quizzical smile on her face, and we
both head towards the light.

Our nocturnal companion is totally unexpected. Naomi Wildman, sound
asleep amidst a small pile of PADDs. Voyager's youngest crewman should
have been in her quarters, in bed many hours ago. Kathryn picks up one
of the PADDs and scrolls through it quickly. She smiles again and
nods. She sits down on the bench beside her, gently brushes Naomi's
hair away from her face and strokes her cheek to wake her.

The child startles, more I think as a reaction to who is waking her, and
struggles to sit up. Kathryn pulls her quickly onto her lap and calms
her. "Shhh... Naomi. What are you doing here?"

"I was doing. . ." she searches for the words, still sleepy. "I was doing a research as...assignment."

"For the Doctor?" Kathryn asks.

"Yes." Naomi sighs. "Captain?"

"Yes Naomi."

"Captain, why is the Doctor so...so...he makes me work so hard." she
finishes plaintively.

Kathryn grins. "Naomi, believe it or not, the Doctor is much better now
than he ever was. When I first met him he had absolutely no social
graces whatsoever. And you - you are very special to the doctor."

Naomi looks up at Kathryn expectantly. And Kathryn suddenly realizes
exactly what she has gotten herself into.

"Commander Chakotay is the story teller on this ship." She says to
Naomi. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." The sounds echoed
through his systems. He was momentarily disoriented but quickly realized
that what he had heard emanated from his own program. This was
definitely new.

He had been refitted with a functioning sound system. He vaguely
remembered the last time he had been activated there had been some
question as to his voice. His creator, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, had been
quite insistent upon installing his own voice patterns in his program.
Zimmerman's ego was legendary, and his co-developers had decided not to
debate this particular demand and acquiesced.

All around him was chaos.

External stimuli. He was autonomically responding to external stimuli.
His programming was beginning to function. He was on-line.

His reaction was immediate. He stepped up to the nearest biobed and
began to examine the patient stretched out upon it. He treated each
injury carefully and thoroughly. When he had done all he could, he
moved on to the next bed. He said nothing and interacted with no one
around him except to demand a medical instrument or instruct the patient
to move this way or that. He was completely immersed in his tasks.

The observers were satisfied. This prototype Emergency Medical Hologram
was operating at full function.

"End Prototype Test 47, deactivate EMH." The technicians complied and
the program faded once again from their view.

"Well" said Dr. Zimmerman. "I think that this EMH is ready to be
installed on Voyager. It will be a perfect test case scenario. Three
weeks or so in deep space, isolated from any other ships or space
stations. There might be a few cases of Bolian flu and a couple of
minor injuries for him to treat. I'll instruct Captain Janeway to run a
few diagnostics and some drills while they're out there. Shouldn't be
too much trouble for her. Not that I anticipate any problems." He added.

Dr. Zimmerman surveyed his lab, and raised one brow slightly as he
noticed a few instruments out of place and a data PADD tucked
haphazardly between two consoles. "I like to run a tight ship, ladies
and gentlemen. Disorder will not be tolerated." He nodded to the junior
technician who happened to be standing nearest to the offending
materials. "Take care of this, ensign." The doctor turned on his heel
and left the lab, followed with alacrity by his minions.

The young ensign sighed and turned to the task at hand. The counter was
easily straightened, and she picked up the offending PADD. She glanced
at the heading, in preparation for filing the information in the correct
data storage unit, and her attention was caught. "Proposal for
integrating ethical, moral and emotional subroutines into EMH prototype
7a-b". She scrolled quickly through the information. She knew that all
the EMH prototypes must have had ethical and moral programming
installed. This had come as a directive from Star Fleet Medical
Headquarters. But an emotional subroutine? This was the first time
she'd come across any mention of such a proposal. Her attention caught,
she began to read.

Several minutes later she looked up and grinned. Dr. Lewis Zimmerman
was known to be an arrogant and emotionless, albeit brilliant
scientist. He was famous for treating his students, technicians and
underlings less than kindly. The proposal that the young ensign now
held involved a few relatively simple adjustments to the EMH program.
The young woman reviewed the figures on the PADD, just to make sure. She
flicked on the console in front of her and began to enter the data into
the system.

* *

(Approximately 18 months later)

When Neelix arrived in sickbay with Samantha Wildman leaning heavily on
his arm, Voyager's Doctor was in consultation with Kes.

"Doctor, doctor!."

The Talaxian's frantic excitement was nothing new to the EMH. "Just one
minute Mr. Neelix" he said, without turning around. "I'll attend to
you."

Kes interjected quietly. "Sam, why don't you come over here and I'll
help you onto the biobed."

The EMH had been preparing for this moment ever since he had diagnosed
Ensign Wildman's condition. He had reviewed all the information in
Voyager's database regarding inter-species gestation and birthing
techniques. He had prepared himself for every possible emergency and
contingency. What he had not prepared for was a very pregnant woman in
heavy labour.

"Push." he instructed her.

"Don't forget to breathe, Samantha." Kes said kindly, and gently wiped
her forehead with a damp cloth. "Deep regular breaths."

"Cervical dilation is at ten point two centimeters, glandular levels are
normal. Push, Ensign!" The doctor barked impatiently.

"You push damn it. I'm sick of pushing."

He looked up in surprise. Not many of his patients argued with him. "I
know you are fatigued. Try to focus on your breathing. Remember the
exercises we did. When you feel a contraction, bear down" he directed.
He had not expected this reaction. After all, wasn't he doing all the
work here?

But this was not going according plan. Or any of the books that he had
read. Samantha was in distress. And so was the child.

"The baby has shifted position. This is a rare complication. . ."

Voyager was rocked by a heavy impact.

*

All around him was chaos. Triage. But this was what he was programmed
for. He sorted through the wounded quickly and efficiently.

"Second degree plasma burns on the face and neck. Treat him withÖ
Fractured clavicle, thoracic contusions, nothing serious, she can
wait." He was back in command.

But the baby was in distress again. "Increase the osmotic pressure by
ten percent."

More wounded. And his program was in jeopardy. He flickered and
dropped a regenerator.

"Oh no." He felt something unfamiliar jolt through his systems. He
tried to shake the sensation off, but it lingered for a moment. He
continued triage.

They had been given a second chance. Ensign Wildman's baby had come
from another Voyager through a spatial rift with Harry Kim. The captain
and the crew were ecstatic. Samantha had taken the child back to her
quarters and both were healthy and thriving.

But Voyager's EMH was troubled. Which in itself was highly unusual. He
had failed. He reviewed the records of his procedures and actions for
the day of the Wildman baby's birth. "Naomi's birth," he corrected
himself. And there too lay an interesting dilemma. He felt a special . . .fondness . . . for the Wildman child. And he could not quite figure out
where these (he couldn't quite put a name to these sensations) were
coming from. The failure, perhaps. The fondness was mystifying.

*

"Doctor to Torres".

"Torres here. Doctor, we're extremely busy down here. Can it wait?"

"Lieutenant, I am in need of a diagnostic at your earliest convenience.
EMH out."

*

"Captain, thank you for coming." He actually fussed a little and
offered her a chair. She valiantly tried to suppress a smile.

It seems Captain" he said when they were both settled, "That there is a
small glitch in my program. Lieutenant Torres discovered it the other
day when she ran a detailed diagnostic - one that I requested - I might
add, on my systems."

"A glitch Doctor?" Janeway asked.

He continued. "It seems that there was an unauthorized addition to the
moral and ethical subroutines that Dr. Zimmerman programmed into the
Emergency Medical Hologram installed on Voyager."

"In other words, into you, Doctor."

"Yes. I have an emotional subroutine embedded into my matrix.
Lieutenant Torres has informed me that it can be removed, although it
will be a tricky procedure. She told me that she would be willing to do
it on her next 72 hour break. But she also insisted that I obtain your
permission to have it removed."

"I see. And why do you want it removed, Doctor?"

"Captain. I found it very difficult to fail. When I lost Ensign
Wildman's baby I felt a paralysis that frightened me. I must be able to
function fully at all times, in any situation. I could not. I could not
look at Samantha. And I could not face myself." He continued, slowly,
his voice reflecting his distress. "And Captain I have recently found
that I have certain feelings that are dictating my responses to members
of our crew. I find these responses puzzling and they often divert my
attentions when I should be working on research and other duties."

"Doctor." Janeway's tone was soft and kind. "Have you found that these
emotions are detracting from the care that you are giving the crew?
Have you neglected any of your patients, or your duties because of
them?"

"No." He sounded surprised. "Of course not. I am still functioning at
the high end of my efficiency ratio. I am just . . . feeling things. I'm
not sure that I want these emotions to continue." He paused and looked
up at his Captain, who was watching him carefully. "However" he
continued eventually "some of those feelings are actually quite
pleasant. For instance the way I feel about Naomi Wildman evokes a
pleasurable sensation."

Kathryn Janeway smiled. "Doctor, Naomi Wildman evokes a pleasurable
sensation in the entire crew. And you didn't fail her you know. Your
counterpart on the other Voyager was able to adjust her cellular
problems and send us a healthy baby. You did what you had to do under
distinctly different and difficult conditions. You have grown
immeasurably over the past 18 months Doctor. We all know that your
program was initially developed to be an adjunct to a ship's doctor.
But you are our ship's doctor. And as such you have served us well. You
will be able to serve us even better with your emotional routine intact.
Permission denied."

The EMH remained quiet as he considered his captain's decision.

"And Doctor." Captain Janeway continued. "It might be beneficial to
both of you if you spend some extra time with Naomi Wildman. And I'm
sure that Samantha would appreciate your advice. In moderation, of
course." She finished quickly.

The Doctor tilted his head in thought and then smiled. "Why yes. Of
course. I am the perfect instructor for the child. I have an
incredible amount of knowledge to impart. Probably more than anyone
else on this ship, excuse me for saying so Captain! why I will start
developing a curriculum immediately."

* *

Kathryn glances down and sees that one member of her audience has faded
again. She quirks that enchanting Kathryn grin at me and nods. I
carefully gather Naomi up into my arms and we head towards the Wildman
quarters. She doesn't stir as I place her gently in her bed, Samantha
sheepishly tucking her in.

"I didn't notice she was gone" she mumbles. "Double shift, Neelix was
sitting, I just fell into bed."

"Don't worry" I say, and I give Kathryn's hand a surreptitious squeeze.
"She just needed an extra bedtime story tonight."